Look sharp.
by Andromache
Summary: More happened during the Garden battle than we thought.


Look Sharp.  
by Andromache  
  
I do not own the characters of Final Fantasy 8, but if I did, there's no telling how many hookers I would hire. Sue me not.  
  
This is set to the song, "Mama, Look Sharp" from the musical, 1776.  
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A tired-looking young man stumbled into the darkened Dollet pub with disheveled hair and torn SeeD student uniform. His bleary eyes barely registered the bartender's concerned look. Hardly anyone came into the pub in the middle of the day, let alone an underage SeeD.   
  
The boy's dull brown eyes brooked no argument when he waved to the bartender to serve him. He ordered a rum and drank it in one swallow. The bartender raised one eyebrow in surprise and asked, "Want another rum, General?"  
  
"Me? I ain't even a corporal."  
  
"Heh. What does SeeD know? You know what's going on out there, General?"  
  
"You probably know more than I do."  
  
"In here? Sweet Jesus! Tell me, have you seen any fighting?"  
  
Gesturing to his torn uniform, the young SeeD cadet replied, "Sure did. I saw my two best friends get killed by Galbadian soldiers at the battle between the Gardens. Right in the Quad. It was supposed to be a free weekend for us, so when they did not get home for dinner, their mamas came to the Garden to look for them. Mrs. Ikari, she found her son right off, but Mrs. Träume had to search for hours for hers before she found Reu because he had crawled to the edge of the Quad before he died."  
  
Mama, hey mama,   
come looking for me...  
I'm here in the meadow,  
by the red maple tree...  
  
Balamb Garden's heavy floors rumbled under the assault from the opposing Galbadia Garden beneath the feet of a junior classman named Reu Träume. He still wore his navy blue junior classman uniform, still starched and pressed, while he hid in the Quad from the panicking older students and SeeDs that ran helter-skelter throughout the hallways of the Garden. He was not going to miss out on the excitement just because Commander Leonhart said so. Let the other pansies hide out in the classrooms. At fourteen, he was old enough to take care of himself.   
  
His youthful deep blue eyes peered wide-eyed occasionally at the fighting Galbadian soldiers and Garden students in the center of the Quad. A dust cloud obscured his vision for a moment, and then it cleared to reveal the fighters falling to the hard packed, yellow dirt ground. Blood spilled in thin, crimson arcs onto the bodies of other fighters already piling up on the ground.   
  
Reu gasped as a body of a Garden student slumped down right in front of his hiding place. It was the body of his mentor, Edmund Rutledge. Edward's bright green eyes were dulled by his death, and Reu ended up screaming loudly, allowing the Galbadian soldier who had killed Edward to know where he was. Suddenly Reu wished that he had not disobeyed Commander Leonhart.   
  
Reu's messy chocolate brown hair chose that precise moment to fall into his eyes as he dashed out into the main Quad area. His stiff uniform made it difficult to move as fast as he wanted to, and so the soldier caught up with him quickly. The soldier's grey glove starkly contrasted the navy blue clothing Reu wore as he gripped the young man's shoulder roughly. Reu was turned around to face the soldier's silvery mask. Reu's terrified visage was reflected back at himself in the visor of the helmet. His wide blue eyes gazed right back into themselves as Galbadia Garden passed by overhead with a girl dressed in light blue fiercely clinging to it.   
  
Reu was spared when his attacker fell down under the weight of another Galbadian soldier. He seized the moment to run for shelter in the corridor but was stopped by another soldier who roared a challenge to him when he attacked.  
  
Mama, hey mama,  
look sharp. Here I be.  
Hey, hey, mama,  
look sharp.  
  
The Galbadian soldier rushed too quickly at him and overextended his arm. Reu took advantage of this and grabbed his arm, forcing the soldier to the ground. He then cast a thundara that he had drawn from a creature in the Training Center last week and cast the soldier into unconsciousness. Reu once again ran, this time to the edge of the Quad where he hoped to leap over the fence into another corridor leading out of the Quad. His feet dodged the remains of fallen SeeDs and Galbadian soldiers as he ran. Sometime he could not avoid them though, and sickening thumps arose when his feet trampled on the chests and stomachs of the dead littering the ground.   
  
He pumped his fists as he ran, hoping that he would make it in time. A fresh allotment of soldiers had just dropped down into the Garden, and the situation was looking more and more dire. His chances of escape dwindled further when another Galbadian soldier thought to jump in his path and tackle him.  
  
Them soldiers, they fired.  
O ma, did we run!  
But then we turned round,  
and the battle begun.  
  
The soldier held onto Reu's back with his left hand as he punched Reu in the stomach several times. The junior classman gasped for breath while he struggled. He felt blood coat his lips when he coughed. Reu brought his leg up against the soldier's groin. Because of the armor, the Galbadian was merely stunned. It still allowed Reu to wriggle out from underneath him and run for his former hiding place.   
  
Then I went under.  
O ma, am I done.  
Hey, hey, mama,  
look sharp.  
  
Reu had not counted on the soldier's friends to open heavy machine gun fire on his back as he ran from them. He fell face forward onto the yellow ground of the Quad with a heavy thud. The ground scraped his cheek, but that could not compare to the agonizing pain of at least fifteen bullets tearing new holes in his body. His blood poured out onto the ground, adding a fresh coat of crimson to the Quad.   
  
Reu summoned his waning strength and crawled, using his arms to pull himself to the shady maple tree on the edge of the Quad to escape the battle. He turned himself so that he lay on his back, and his drooping blue eyes gazed up at the floating enemy Garden.   
  
My eyes are wide open,  
my face to the sky,  
is that you I'm hearing in the tall grass nearby?  
Mama, come find me before I do die....  
Hey, hey, mama,  
look sharp.  
  
Mrs. Träume looked worriedly at the clock. It was nearly dinnertime, and Reu said that he would be home by dinner. Then came a knock at the door. She got up out of her chair and opened the door, expecting to joyfully greet a smiling Reu. Instead, Mrs. Ikari solemnly stood on the doorstep and said, "Joanne, we have to go to the Garden. Get your coat on."  
  
Mrs. Träume pulled on a worn blue jacket and asked, "Why? Is there anything wrong?"  
  
She held her breath until Mrs. Ikari answered, "Our babies might be dead."  
  
Suddenly, she felt as if someone had punched her in the stomach.   
  
They followed the straggling line of parents to the grounded Balamb Garden. No one spoke. There was no need. They all feared the worst, that their children would not be alive when they got there.   
  
Some people were ushered to the packed infirmary to meet with their children. A majority of the younger students rushed into their parents' loving arms. Mrs. Träume did not see Reu among them. He was only fourteen. He should have been with them. Why wasn't he with them?  
  
Mrs. Ikari motioned to her to follow her into a corridor that was stained with bloody trails from bodies being dragged from them. Outside of the entrance though was a line of bodies all in row, making it easier for identification. Mrs. Ikari stopped cold when she saw the barely recognizable face of her own son, Gene. His face had caved in under the pressure of a strong blow to the nose. She covered her face with her hands and sobbed loudly until an older SeeD lead her away to a place where other parents wailed in grief.   
  
Mrs. Träume pressed forward into the corridor, calling Reu's name as she went further into the Quad. Galbadian bodies still lay on the ground while she picked her way through them as she searched for Reu. She looked everywhere. Twice. It was not until the setting sun caught the glint of the red maple's leaves that she saw Reu lying weakly on its trunk.   
  
"Reu!" she screamed.   
  
By the time she reached him, he was hovering near the brink of death. His blue eyes were dull and had almost no life in them at all. She threw her arms around him just as he sighed and breathed his last. He slumped, his eyes still open, in her arms while she began to cry loudly into the cooling night air.   
  
I'll close your eyes, my Billy,  
them eyes that cannot see.  
And I'll bury you, my Billy,  
beneath the maple tree.   
  
And never again will you whisper to me,  
Hey, hey, o mama, look sharp....  
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~o0O0o~  
fini. 


End file.
